


i got the rest man, you can drift away

by swimthewholeriogrande



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Boys In Love, Canon Era, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, M/M, Post-Canon, Sharing a Bed, Sleepy Cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-16 00:59:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16075061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swimthewholeriogrande/pseuds/swimthewholeriogrande
Summary: Jack wakes up in Davey's arms.





	i got the rest man, you can drift away

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to actually write something other than heartbreaking angst and I feel like I owe it to the characters at this point yikes  
> Title from Mesa, AZ by Bad Books which I recommend!

The first time Jack slept in the same bed as Davey, they slept head to foot as far away from each as possible; it was during the strike and Davey didn't have time to go home before it got dark, so he had to share Jack's bunk. Jack remembered holding himself still all night, scared that so much of a brush of his skin on Davey's could be construed as something - else.

When the excitement was over, they spent so much time negotiating for more rights for the newsies that they often found themselves stumbling into Jack's bed at 2am, too tired and elated to mind much who slept which way. Still, they never touched, and Jack would often wake up with Davey already gone to fetch breakfast. He'd run his hand over the cold spot next to him and think about the ache he felt, about what it meant.

By three months after the strike was over, Jack had had enough. He got Davey onto the roof, with maybe a little white lie, and then got all scared like some kind of flighty animal. In the end it was Davey who'd fumbled for his hand, squeezed it and then it had turned into a frantic, desperate kiss with clicking teeth and this powerful, bottomless need in Jack's chest, like something gnawing at his ribs. He felt its teeth in him whenever he looked at Davey; and he looked at Davey a lot. 

After that, Davey was in Jack's bed as often as he could get away with spending a night away from home. While it was still warm they'd stayed on the roof with a single ragged mattress, but now the weather was starting to bite and the last thing either of them needed was to get sick. Jack had moved back down into the lodging house to his own tiny room - being the leader had some perks - and curled with Davey under old sheets and abandoned blankets, cursing the thin window and the freezing air that seeped in.

That was why when he woke up with a cut-off choke - some unpleasant dream fading in his mind - Jack wasn't surprised to feel a warm, solid weight against his back. Davey's arm was around his waist in a way that would have felt restrictive if it was anyone else, and his forehead was pressed to Jack's neck, each breath of the boy behind him tickling at his collarbones. Davey radiated heat like a personal star; Jack could almost forget it was winter on nights like these.

Just as he was calming himself again, there was a scuffling sound and Davey murmured, his grip tightening and then releasing. He let go of Jack, rolled over, and promptly fell out of bed.

"Fuck!"

"Davey, ssh!"

Davey had only recently started to swear and it made Jack laugh more than anything else, but he didn't want anyone to come tramping up here to investigate the noise. He reached out for the black shape of Davey in the dark room and pawed blindly at his shoulder.

"Come back t'bed." Jack swallowed a yawn; his limbs were sleep-heavy. "S'early."

The black shape scrambled up from the floor and Jack felt the mattress dip as Davey lay down again. A hand squeezed his hip and then fumbled for his hair, stroking through it gently; Jack leaned into the touch and tried not to preen.

"Nightmare, Jackie?" Davey whispered, and Jack bit his lip.

"I don't remember." That wasn't quite a lie, since he didn't know what it had been about. Jack turned, the bed so small that his nose brushed over Davey's when he faced him. "Why'd you go rolling onto the ground, huh?"

Davey huffed. "I forgot the bed is small. Especially with you, you - oaf."

"Gee, I'm real hurt." Jack hid a smirk in the hollow of Davey's throat; the skin was silky and smelled like bedtime and Davey's family's soap.

"We gotta sleep." Davey sighed, voice soothing and soft as flannel. His arms came around Jack again and he pressed himself even further in Davey's chest, breathing in safety. "We gotta meeting tomorrow."

Tomorrow seemed infinitely far away right then, with only tactile senses to guide Jack and the steady drum of Davey's heart-metronome against his cheek. He didn't answer, just pulled Davey's sleep-shirt down a little so his temple rested against bare skin. What use did he have for tomorrow? Why would he want to be anywhere but here?

A little later, when Jack had drifted off, Davey was still awake - mostly because Jack was alternating between lying still and short, twitchy bursts of movement and burrowing into Davey's side like he was trying to go through him. Davey would never tell a soul, but he did wonder if the other boys knew how goddamn - well, cuddly Jack was. He seemed to crave contact like a physical addiction, most of all from Davey, and that made Davey glow like the candles in windows on long, freezing nights like this. Jack muttered something and sighed, and Davey's face split into a tired, beaming smile.

My God, he thought, running a hand down Jack's spine, how exquisitely lucky I am.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
